Winning films can be viewed on the Kent County Teen Film Festival YouTube channel. The Festival was sponsored by CompuCraft, Celebration Cinema, Kent District Library, Grand Rapids Public Library and Pure Michigan Film Office.

ArtPrize, 2014 at UICA

ANIMATION COLLABORATION
Sharing our love of animation with youth around the world

Animator Deanna Morse explains, “It’s an intergenerational collaboration between artists, educators, students and both local and international organizations. Each year, during workshops around the world, young people build animations to a common theme and then the short films are compiled and premiered at international animation festivals. Although we speak different languages, these youth animations communicate across borders. It’s a dynamic global art project.”

UICA is the perfect venue for Animation Collaboration’s video because this year’s exhibition theme is Collaboration. The local workshop included students from Grand Rapids Public School’s North Park Montessori, the Boys and Girls Club, Jubilee Jobs, Grand Valley State University and Community Media Center Interns.

The local animation team consists of three professors from Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Deanna Morse, emerita Professor of Film and Video, Suzanne Zack, Film and Video Professor, and Maggie Annerino, Media Studies Professor along with Gretchen Vinnedge, Education Director at the Community Media Center (CMC), and Lynn McKeown, Education Project Coordinator from the CMC.

Animation Collaboration is a celebration of play. Adults, around the world, pass the tools and help children explore their creativity through creating animated art. The workshops help expand problem-solving skills and teach youth visual approaches to communication. Animation Collaboration is excited to share their love of animation with youth around the world and ArtPrize viewers. This youth video art is not only fun to make, it’s also fun to watch.